Dragon's Wrath

Exalted on The Blessed Isle

Six hours later, we were up on a huge hill staring off at the black spire erupted from the mountains of Pasiap’s Stair. It was a huge cathedral called the Hidden Tabernacle that belonged to a Deathlord, The Bishop of the Chalcedony Thurible. Its been six hours of flying back towards Beacon after all hell broke loose in Pasiaps stair. I had to stop and give myself a break. But I can’t seem to stop staring and wondering what’s going to follow in the days to come. A Deathlord hasn’t been to the Blessed Isle in millennia, if ever. And how are we supposed to fight him? Kalak seems to believe it won’t happen quite as fast as if the Mask of winters were here. Where he would march armies, The Bishop will send missionaries. It will be weeks or months of travel, gathering thousands to follow the Shining Path.

I can’t forget the moment the black spire erupted through the ground. An old man in dark robes appeared. We fled immediately, and we looked back to find the whole mountain crumbling. the earth was shaking for miles as the tabernacle push into the skies. It was a huge black stain on the horizon.

A few days later, we all arrived back at Beacon to a hundred questions. Everyone could see the Tabernacle but had no clue what was happening. Kalak took to the highest balcony to answer some questions and calm the people of Beacon. And the rest of us went to the hearth room to discuss strategy. we met with Humor, Reed, Siphon, Drana, Leon’s friends, a few members of the Phoenix guard, Perch, Augustine, and Lafaye. when he joined us, we took hours discussing the events and possibilities that lie before us.

Those talks lasted well into the night but eventually we all decided to call it a night and get some rest with a rough idea of how the next couple weeks would go. Me and the Leon would take off in the morning, sneak through the Dragons Gate near the newly fashioned Tabernacle and head up to the Imperial City where we have somehow arranged to meet a sidereal at the Imperial Manse. Leon seems to believe his mothers pendant will somehow grant him entry. I’m not entirely sure. There’s a lot of lore that I don’t quite understand. But I’m for sure going with, just in case.

Kalak and Camreal will stay here and prepare for the upcoming Calibration. There are a lot of decisions to be made, especially since the guests may not be leaving this time. They are to prepare the city for sanctuary. As the months go on, we could hope that more and more people will put aside their differences and find safety among us and away from the Bishop.

A few days later, Leon and I were nearly at the Dragons Gate. We coudl see it off on the horizon. But along the way, we began to notice these small villages being abandoned, or even controlled by dark forces. It was clearly the work of the Bishop. It took everything in my power and every bit of patience Leon had to convince me not to leap out of the carriage and attempt to free these villages. We had to push on. A short while later, we could hear noises outside the carriage. Off in the distance, there was definitely some fighting going on. I told Leon to grab his gear and I’d check it out int he mean time. I slipped out the back of the carriage, tumbled and rose to my feet. Standing directly in front of me, was a giant metal wall shaped like a man. It appeared to be a suit of similar make that the Archons used to have, powered by a war manse and completely airtight.

Ten minutes later, the suit was open, the man inside had stepped out and spoke with us. It turns out, he was disgraceful member of House Cathak. He has been moving around the northern end of the Dragon’s Wrath Plains in a large power suit trying to defend against the Bishops forces. He isn’t very good at most things and he doesn’t seem very confident for a Cathak. He is largely considered a disgrace, but seems very kind. Once he came to terms with who we were, we offered him sanctuary down in Beacon. His natural reaction was not entirely pleasant about the idea, with us being labeled “anathema” and “enemies of the realm.” But he said he would consider the kind offer we had given him.

But we had to continue! So after our pleasant chat, we gathered back in the carriage and took off once more through the Dragons Gate and to the Imperial City. Some hours later, Leon wakes me up, “Sepherene, were going through the gate.” I looked out the window and saw that the black scaly walls were missing. We were definitely in between the huge walls though. That begged the question, where was Diegan? Scanning the area around us, I saw the cave in the mountain that Diegan usually resides in. “Leon do we want to stop and see how he is doing?” I asked. I was curious, as I’m sure Leon was as well. But he pointed out we don’t have time. We needed to get to the Imperial City, so he could open the Manse and stop the Bishop of Chalcedony Thuribal. And so we passed.

And so the wheels rolled, that sun set, the moon rose. For weeks this is all we knew. We slept in the constantly moving carriage, ate dried rations, and didn’t have the ability to stay very clean. These weeks were rough, but at least there was nothing else that could make things worse. But sure enough, after enough time, we arrived at the Imperial City with no delays. We rolled right in, no checks or anything. We found a place to park our carriage, and we walked in hooded cloaks to the small plain building known as the Imperial Manse. As we entered the yard that surrounded it, tall hedges stood between us and it. “Ready?” I asked. Leon stepped in and immediately vanished from sight. I stepped forward and he didn’t return to my vision.

“Leon? Leon?? Can you hear me?!” Afraid of some type of trickery, I sped into the hedges. I couldn’t split them so I raced around trying to find the hole in the maze. After a few minutes I was sure it would do no good. Even my flight capabilities were disabled. Ten minutes later, Leon appeared. “We must go Sepherene.” I tried to question, but Leon would have known of it. He seemed.. heavier. As if the weight of the world sat on his shoulders.

A few days after I had returned from my training with the Shadow of the Mountain, Kalak arrived back in Beacon. He seemed happier. He was whistling, dancing. And it was a few days after that, Camreal should have been arriving.

The morning passed with no signs of him. But Chakar and the rest of the men I had freed from the Guild were apparently healed by Reed during my absence. they were now ready to leave and head home. Back to the South. So I decided to see them off.

I wished them well, and a safe journey. They thanked me and said if I was ever around I’d always have allies among them. They really were great men it seemed. I watched them walk off and eventually the passed over the horizon

I turned around and started to walk away when I saw a small pillar of smoke rising from the south west of Beacon. That’s when I Am appeared in front of me.

“Excuse me, Miss Sepherene. Camreal seems to be having an issue just outside the city.” I was a blur of motion. I didn’t want to use too much Essence right away so I did only boosted my speed a bit. Plus I’m sure Kalak and Leon are on their way too. And I may need their help.

I leapt into the air and glided across the sky as I got closer, so I could get a better view. It didn’t last long. As I got within a few hundred yards, I felt my body lock up. It was something magical, for sure. And then I fell from the sky and slammed into the dirt. I watched as Camreal went toe to toe with Magistrate Falchion, unable to help him.

Falchion had been hunting us for the better part of two years as a member of the Second Hunt. She had been in Mahltin. Before that she had been in.. Torvus? It’s hard to remember. Such a long time had passed. But that meeting had been what put Camreal on her hit-list. There had been a huge fight and Falchion had gotten the best of me. I was gravely wounded and Camreal had saved my life by casting a spell on her. The specifics I wasn’t sure of but it burned a number of runes and sigils into her bones, marking her as his servant upon her death. And she has fought ever since to find him and force him to remove it.

I heard two similar thuds, just a bit heavier than the sound I made. I took it to mean Leon and Kalak were here. But in the same predicament. I heard a few more sounds of foot steps, barely over the yelling and weapon clashing happening just a couple hundred yards away. I looked up to see a familiar sidereal face but not necessarily a friendly one.

Tempest was a member of the Bronze faction. They were our greatest enemies. They planned the destruction of the Solars so many generations ago in favor of the Terrestrials ruling creation. And there he was standing in front of two helpless Solars who desired to tear down the realm his kind had built for generations. The exact words seem to escape me, but I remember he began to gloat. He was amazed at how easy it was to trap all of us. Even the traitor, Leon. He explained that we weren’t allowed to help Camreal. This was a fight born of fate. He made a swift movement pulling his sword from its sheath and plunged it into the earth. There was a flash and Camreal and Falchion vanished.

“Bring them back!” Leon shouted. He was suddenly on his feet. He drew his daiklave and fire stretched down the length of it from his palm. I was starting to regain a bit of movement. Perhaps all was not lost.

“I’m sorry but I can’t. They are still there but they have phased into another plane until one of them dies. It is locked by fate.”

Kalak and I pushed ourselves to our feet and drew our weapons.

Kalak spoke up, “that was a mistake, if Camreal dies or not she’s still marked. There’s no way Camreals going to let her out of it now.”

“Be that as it may, Phoenix, it is done. There is no changing it now.”

“Then it looks like you’ve sealed your fate as well Tempest. I’m tired of these games with you.” I dashed forward and started slashing. One high, one low, a tumble and one from behind. It was extremely fluid, for just regaining my mobility. But i had no luck. Blocked. Blocked. Dodged.

Leon and Kalak were right behind me. But he had enough time to prepare himself. Blocked. Blocked. Blocked. He turned a slashed Kalak across the chest. His armor took the brunt of it, but it didn’t look pretty. We tried again to even scratch him with our weapons but it was no use. I charged in again and flipped out of his reach after he blocked all my attacks. Leon tumbled through sweeping at his legs and he simply leapt over. And Kalak heaved his grand daiklave again. Blocked.

We all looked at each other and spread out around him equidistant and lunged. Blocked and he counter attacked. His sword slid deep into my shoulder. I felt my arm go limp. I palmed Him in the chest and commanded the power of the Least Gods. All of his attunements broke. Armor fell out of Elsewhere. His weapon clattered to the ground. Dodged. Dodged. Kalak and Leon’s sword fell through empty space. But Leon had strategically placed himself behind Tempest. He open his palm and launched a huge orb of flame and heat. The light that accompanied it, blinded us all.

A moment later, we began to see again. There’s smoke rising and obstructing sight a bit. But as it fades, there stands Tempest. He was covered in soot and dirt but otherwise untouched.

His things were still scattered across the ground. He reached out and grabbed what he could. And he vanished. A moment later there was a small pop. Camreal and Falchion were back. Kind of.

Camreal was back with some deep cuts and maybe a broken bone or two. It had been a good fight from what he said. But in the end she just couldn’t beat him. He had killed her. And just moments after explaining this we heard movement. It was from Falchion. She was standing up. So it was true, he could enslave the dead.

What happened next is probably the grossest thing I’ve ever seen. And I’ve walked in on Leon changing before. I’ll never forget that tattoo of Kalak.. Anyway, Falchions body was now shedding its skin and organs. It left nothing but the branded skeletal foundation that Camreal had marked as his. Everything else landed as a smelly gorey goo. We stared in horror as it walked over and grabbed the armor that Tempest had left and then came to kneel before its master.

“Camreal you can’t seriously be debating keeping her like this. She may have been the enemy but she died. She deserves peace.” Kalak pleaded. He sounded truly sympathetic for the woman.

“I’m not debating, Kalak. I just am. This is my insurance that these things don’t continue to happen. She’s an example.” Camreal was calm but decisive. He knew what he wanted and he was determined.

“She was a person! Have some humanity Camreal! This is wrong! We look past all the other darker things you do but I will not let you do this.” Kalak anger was becoming very apparent very quickly.

“Oh shut it Kalak.” I growled “You can’t tell me that this is where you draw the line. That all of a sudden you have a new found distaste for shackles!” I stepped in between them. “Remember the incident with Guild? How you were going to buy their freedom. Further propping up their disgusting system! Dozens of men captured, experimented on and then enslaved and sold on an entirely different continent! You struck me that day. But now you beg for this woman’s soul? That is one hell of a line you draw…” I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

“Thank you Sepherene.”

I spun on him. “I’m not arguing this for you, Camreal. You know my opinion on this doesn’t bode well for you. But after the things I have done I will not force you. I’m merely pointing out that Kalaks soapbox is broken.”

The argument carried on for a while longer. But eventually we called it and went back to Beacon with the new addition.

After a few hours I went back to find Camreal and asked him about the book he went to get. He was just reading through it. He had found what was necessary to fix Dranas leg. I also ran through the idea of fixing the wolfs family. But that news was not as good. I went and got Reed just in case and we got to work.

The book did what it was supposed to do. But it wasn’t perfect. All of the diamond was gone. But so were the parts of her leg that were changed. Reed assured us that he could regrow it. But it would take the better part of a month.

There was a meeting in the hearth room after that. Kalak had something important to tell us. It was the 4 of us. That’s it.

“The mask of Winters is coming for me. He said he would come for me when I’m at my highest. He plans to march on us. But someone from Pasiaps Stair said he can help. I met him on my voyage.” None of us took this well. I had heard about the mask of Winters. He was one of the reasons we went south after the Unconquered Wolfs death. I knew this was nothing close to a good thing.

We talked about it for hours but we had no other options than to go to Pasiaps Stair. We decided first thing in the morning. I didn’t sleep that night. I thought about where I might go. How I might escape with all my sisters. But nothing I could come up with seemed possible. Not when I’m one of the most wanted people in the Realm.

But in the morning we all got ready and travelled for a week to the Stair. The stair was a terrestrial training academy built into the side of a huge mountain. I had been there once, to steal back my Demon Scale. I wonder what Cynis Indry is up to..

We walked into the city and headed towards the designated area. We waited a little while before someone found us. He was a special weapons instructor in the Academy. It was the man I had stolen from. He made no mention of it though and took us to a secret entrance to Pasiaps stair.

He took us through the training facility to his private quarters. He stepped behind a curtain and appeared to begin to change his clothes.

“Tonight, the Mask of Winters plans to march into the Realm. We have one night to stop him. Luckily I know just the way. What most people don’t know is that there is a shadowland at the base of the mountain in one of our vaults. How you ask? All will be made clear. Follow me.” He walked out in new attire. And suddenly Kalaks tune changed.

If Kalak was right, this man was an abyssal from Thorns. At least that’s how Kalak met him. Years ago, before Beacon was even a dream, Kalak had lived in a city named Thorns and it was sacked by the Mask of Winters. Frat was the night, Kalak says, he escaped the abyssal with little more than a threat. While the abyssal claimed to have ensured his survival for this day. The day to save the realm.

After little deliberation, Kelak decided he didn’t have much of a choice. So we followed him down into the vault. With the sun already down, we saw hordes of undead monsters, nearly instantly. But none of them harassed us. We walked and they stared. The parted like Camreals hair on Calibration. Say what you will, but he likes to clean up. We followed it down and down quite a while. It didnt feel that dangerous. Although I’m sure it was because of our guide.

Finally we were interrupted, by a shadowy figure. When he revealed himself, it was clear he was an abyssal. He claimed to be a forward scout for the Mask of Winters. Leon attempted to shrug him off but that was quickly corrected by his war strider. But with teamwork, and a few quick attacks we dispatched him rather easily.

I attempted to question our supposed ally, but all he would say is all will become clear soon.

When we finally arrived, we were in a big open chamber. And there were large double doors in front of us. Directly in front of those doors, was a large pile of bodies. They looked ancient. Kalak walked up and picked up a note and he seemed to zone out for a few minutes before looking up at the door again. He would later describe that moment to be when he got a flashback to one of his previous lives as a solar.

I looked at what he focused on. Appearing to bar the door was a mirror of Kalaks sword. He drew his sword.

“That was put there years ago, and there was nothing and nobody that could move it. Except for you. As soon as you move that sword the door will open and the Mask of Winters will be foiled. But it is three minutes to midnight, so we must hurry. "

Kalak brought his sword closer. And once they were within a close proximity, the one on the door started glowing. It fractured and pieces started flying and connecting with the one in His hand. Within a few seconds, there was only one sword and it was 50% longer and wider. It was the largest sword any of us had ever seen. That’s when the doors grinded open and the ground began to rumble.

“Well since were already out here we might as well head to the quarry. " Kalak said. We were a couple hours outside of The city. I just made quite the scene threatening forsaken debt and the rest of them had followed me, worried about what I might do.but we were supposed to be heading to see the scarlet foreman any day now. He had requested our help with the divine banquet. But we were supposed to be heading to see the scarlet foreman any day now. He had requested our help during the divine banquet. He found that his workers were behaving rather weird.

It took us a few days to get there, but he was happy to see us when we finally arrived. You let us to the edge of the quarry and showed us all of his workers. he had were only could be described as golems working around-the-clock to mine Redstone. It was a special kind of stone, more durable than most. Apparently at night, his workers would not allow anyone in the quarry. They would attack anyone on site. No one had been injured but it was only a matter of time.

We waited until night, and then we began to walk down into the quarry. It wasn’t long before a group of them found us. I ready myself for a fight, but they don’t strike me as aggressive. We easily sidestep them, and when I’m hovering above the ground they don’t really even acknowledge me. Camreal came to the conclusion that there must be something wrong with the manse that operates them down at the bottom of the quarry.

Hours later, we reach the bottom with the manse. It looks as if there was a small cave in. Nothing extreme. The manse was fine structurally, but was covered in a ton of deep scratches all over it surfaces inside and out. And Leon noticed there was a man that died in the cave in. He held a letter of resignation and said he was leaving. He couldn’t stand being here any more.

As we were walking around inside, we kept hearing a long scratching noise. Ktttch Ktttch Ktttch. And then all of a sudden right through Kalak, Ktttch! Three scratches went through his armor and down to his bone. He yelled. And we turned to see a ghostly image fade away. There was a Hungry Ghost inside. the manse!

We scrambled around looking for the source of the issue. But we couldn’t find anything except the Head Golem down in the lower area. But we didn’t have much time. None of us were capable of fighting a hungry ghost.

“Leon! Ride its senses!”

“What? That’s crazy!”

“Hopefully you’ll be able to see the problem! Just do it!”

He closed his eyes, and touched the Golem. I don’t know what happened after that, but Leon said that the hungry ghost was interfering. We needed to get of of it. There were two ways to do that. Either, kill it, or appease it. We couldn’t kill it. So we needed to find out what it was. Kalak yelled from up above, “it doesn’t want to be here!”

That’s when I had a flashback to a few days ago. When I grabbed that Guild soldier by the neck. I ran outside shoved most of the rock off the body, picked it up and hurled it as far as I physically could. I reached out into Essence and used the technique dubbed God Steps and I blurred nearly a mile into the air and snatched the body again. I spun in a circle and launched it ever further.

That had worked. The ghost was appeased and the Foreman promised us as much stone as we wished. We told him we were building large walls around Beacon and we would like to use his red stone.

At which point we took our leave and headed back to Beacon. I met with Reed again. He assured me that it was possible to fix the people I had freed from the Guild. And he had already begun working on it. Also camreal had told it was possible to fix The damage done to Drana’s leg by the Diamond Shield. He just needed to visit his old village first to retrieve something of use. Everything was starting to look up.

After a few weeks, we saw a caravan heading from the Scarlet Foremans direction. He had brought us our stone. And an extra gift. He wanted to give us an Enlightenment. It was when a God made an Exalt even stronger through a ritual they were only allowed to do once in their existence. It was incredibly rare and the highest honor.

27 minutes later Siphon of the Blue Void stopped what could have been the argument that ended the Archons. He said that the Sidereals had denied his application for bestowing an enlightenment. And he was sending us across Creation to let us cool off.

It was time for Kalak to leave for the east. There’s a celebration he must attend. Camreal was to go to his old village and retrieve the book he needed. And I had to be in Lookshy by the end of the week. While Leon stayed and guarded the City.

22 minutes later I was soaring over the blessed isle knowing that I literally didn’t have a second to spare. I could not be late. The note he had handed me was from the Shadow of the Mountain, The Curator, an ancient Solar that wished to teach me his own Martial Arts Style. As a Shadow of the Mountain, a night caste, and a warrior I had proven myself worthy. But if I was late I could kiss it all goodbye.

Along the way, I was reading through Swift Lions journal as I often did. I realized I wasn’t too far from the place Swift Lion picked up the Diamond Shield from the Unconquered Wolf. I had never been over this way. I had to check it out…

I arrived at a quaint little house in the middle of the forest. Everything was quiet and it was overgrown with plants. I glanced in through the windows. It was dark but it looked like somebody was inside. I knocked on the door but no answer. I opened the door and it creaked.

“Hello? Any one home?”

I rounded a corner into the sitting room. That’s when I saw them. Two diamond statues.

One was a woman that must have been just a few years older than myself now. And the other was a child. She couldn’t have been but 12. She was very pretty. Thin, long fiery red hair, and green eyes. It was like looking in a mirror. Suddenly, the things the Unconquered Wolf did made much more sense. He had the Shield and had used it to survive and fight the Guild, all along not knowing what he had done to his family. Once he returned to a destroyed home, he made the Swift Lion take it far far away. And devoted every moment of his life to taking down the organization that destroyed his family. Until he found me, he looked at me as if I was his daughter. He couldn’t turn away without helping me…

I continued my journey until I had arrived. It was easily the most populated city when it came to Dragon Bloods outside of the Realm. I had to be careful. But it wasn’t long before the Shadow found me.

We trained for weeks. He taught me disarming, breaking attunements, and theft all through the Least Gods. It was a tricky concept at first but I quickly got the hang of it. Divine Appropriation Style, it was called. But eventually t was time to leave. There’s nothing more he could teach me. I couldn’t help it though, on the way back I stopped back by the little house and retrieved the Wolfs family.

It’s been a long time since I was able to log anything, Being an Archon is extremely time consuming. I feel like I’ve been cooped up in the Hall of the Coiled Sun for an eternity. But realistically, it’s been about six months since our return from Mahltin. Oh, I don’t believe I logged our return all that well.

Okay, I see where I left off. The dinner. After I let Forsaken Debt go, I went back to the other Archons. Leon didn’t understand why I let him live. And it took me some time to realize why I did. As the Archon of Justice, I need to have reason behind my decisions. And although he is my enemy, he scheduled that dinner to thank me for all that I’ve done. All I’ve tried to do over the years, is save as many people as I could. I always attempted to destroy the Guild, but I never killed anyone I didn’t have to. Killing was never my goal.

Shortly after that though, I was captured by Cynis Sifa due to a foolish mistake of my own. But I escaped rather quickly. And on the way out, I found a journal from a man
named Swift Lion. He was a friend and ally of the Unconquered Wolf. Cynis Sifa was attempting to use it to find the artifact called the Diamond Shield. From my understanding, the diamond shield was an artifact that the Guild had, and The Unconquered Wolf stole and used. But after returning home with it, he gave it it Swift Lion and told him to take it far away. So I decided to take the journal and attempt to find the shield. It took us outside the city, and into the mountains to the west.

While traveling through the mountains we came across a tribe of barabarians. Luckily the journal held a note from the Unconquered Wolf for free passage. And they took us to their village. That is where we met 6000 Shines, God of the Western Mountains. He is a being made of bright shiny diamond, and he possessed the Diamond Shield. We managed to barter it from him with Kalaks help. He put on a huge light show in his name and made it unnecessary to use the shield any longer for ritualistic means.

While moving through the mountains on the return to Mahltin, we were attacked by Father Downpour and some terrestrials. Father Downpour was a fierce combatant, but in the end I bested him again. I finally delivered a killing blow to him and brought the Second Hunt from 5 members to 4.

While we were in Mahltin, a number of other things happened. We rescued some people loyal to the Ascending Phoenix. Leon had his mother’s pendant taken by the Shadow of the Mountain. Which was interesting event, because I met a fourth Shadow of the Mountain (Including myself). And the real shocker was that it was his sister.
She claimed she deserved the pendant and Leon ended up killing her for it. And Camreal discovered and stole a technological exalt of some kind trapped in some strange kind of gem. But Kalak made him return it so that we didn’t start a war with the Crimson Heron. And of course there was Leon’s fight with Kathak Atmus.

Oh and of course, Cynis Sifa laid a trap to get me to hand over the Diamond Shield.
She captured Virtuous Reed. I traded it for his life. I was so furious, But Kalak said to give it until Calibration and we would find it.

So after all of that, we decided it was time to return to Beacon and make sure everything was okay. And of course get ready for the next Calibration and Divine Banquet. We only had about 6 months. And everything must go perfectly.

Calibration was exciting, and scary. Sea of Amber Blades got us again. He got us to believe that Emperor of Creation, The Ascended Phoenix came back from the future to kill his greatest enemies, the Firebrand and the Shadow. (Myself and Leon) But really it was a Fair Folk friend of his. We couldn’t do a thing to fight him, and everything within 3 feet of him felt weird. Almost weightless. After that though, it was a fantastic celebration, and we even got an appearance by the Fab Flames, one of the most famous rock bands in Creation.

After Calibration ended, I was all ready to set out to find the Diamond Shield. But it was brought to my attention that we’ve been running ragged for ever. So the Archons decided it might be best to take some time to relax. Hang out in Beacon a while and let things wind down a bit.

Leon got acquainted with his new armor he retrieved in Mahltin. Kalak spent some time around Beacon relaxing, making plans for the future. Camreal was performing some type of ritual in the Square. And I stumbled across a caravan moving towards Beacon. Scrawled across the side of the carts, “A Guild.”

My mind started racing. I had A series of flashbacks to all the moments I’ve come upon guild caravans. All the times when I was still in the East. The later moments when I was in the south. Usually my people were the only ones to walk away I live, and there were times where not all of them did.
I don’t know what brought them to the blessed Isle, but I wanted to make them leave. I started walking towards it when the familiar face greeted me. It but I wanted to make them leave. I started walking towards it when the familiar face greeted me. It was Forsaken Debt. He was the man that invited me to dinner back in Mahltin. Maybe this wasn’t as bad as I thought.
We talked for a few moments politely before he asked to speak with “your leader” and I politely corrected him that the archons are all equal. But he insisted. Luckily all the other archons had spotted the incoming caravan. They walked up just moments later.

While Kalak was busy negotiating whatever trade agreements he desired, as it often went, I began to take a look at the goods on the caravan. Nothing seemed quite out of the ordinary as I walked along the line of carriages. But as I got to the end, there were two carriages that were wrapped up with large tarps. There were five men posted around them. Curious, I walked up and asked what was in those carriages. They declared that they couldn’t tell me without the permission of forsaken debt. I tried to reach past them to tear off the tarp and one of them grabbed my arm. It didn’t actually physically stop me as it did shock me. They were brave. Foolishly so.

“You have two seconds to step out of my way.” I coldly spat my angry words at him and he stared. The two seconds past, and he didn’t move. So I shoved him out-of-the-way, and tore off the tarp. Beneath the tarp I could see cages filled with people. The tarp was halfway off when his sword hit me in the back. It did not cut me, nor did it really hurt me. But the combination of the cages and the sword definitely angered me. I reached out with my mind into elsewhere, and summoned my razor claws and my God kicking boots.

Leon, who was standing around Kalak looking bored, noticed the way this was heading for these poor men. So he drew his sword and dashed closer, trying to convince them they drop their weapons. But as I said they were foolish. They understood him as trying to make them surrender, not save their lives.

That’s when I started swinging. I brought one razor claw down onto the mans sword. Thinking he had blocked my first attack, he smiled. But then I slid his blade in between my claws and flicked my wrist. The sword soared into the air and his face turned to horror. I followed up with a solid kick to the chest. He slammed into one of the cages and the bars bent. He laid unmoving.

Leon dashed forward, brought his blade to life with the fire of a dragon and turned it to blunt edge before swinging it into the chest of the second man. He flipped into the air and landed on top of the cart. He too remain unmoving.

Two men dashed at me, swinging their swords at me. In one fluid motion, I did a twirling jump through the blades and brought my razor claws across their necks. Blood sprayed, and they died moments later. Leon pleaded with the last man to lay down his sword But he was loyal. Sadly, he was loyal to the wrong people. Others who watched as their friends were killed, debated whether to jump into the fray. I decided I was going to end the debate. I grabbed the last man by the neck and gave every bit of strength into launching him into the air like a discus. The went far enough so we didn’t hear the thud. They all stood with weapons drawn.

I turned to see Kalak walking towards us. He looked just as furious as me. This was a good sign, I thought until the slap caught me off guard. I involuntarily took a knee, and looked up as he screamed. For a moment I felt like I was a child again. And then I shook the idea loose. I am stronger than that. I stood and stared him in the eye

.“They are selling slaves. And I WILLNOTHAVE IT!”

The arguing continued for a while before Kalak gave up and went back to repairing negotiations. I let the slaves out and brought them into the city. I didn’t feel the need to express my opinion further on the matter to Forsaken Debt.

After a few hours, I noticed the people seemed to be in some kind of sluggish stupor. I have had some stunned people before, but this didn’t feel right. They didn’t seem to care that they were free. I thought about the possibilities of drugs or other forms of sedation so I thought it best to call in Virtuous Reed. He did some examinations and I believe the term he used was Lobotomized. He said that part of their brains have been removed so that they lose their desire of freedom and free will. Apparently it is possible to fix it, but it will take time, so I thanked him and took my leave. “I need to rest. All the stress.” As soon as his door shut I was a blur.

The Archons, all having gone back to their business as usual, saw a streak of golden light cutting across the sky . Moments later I slammed into the ground, back In Front of the caravan again. My anima was totemic. The large image of a golden goddess, with broken chains dangling from her wrists, reaching towards the Sun with rows of followers as far as the eye could see.

“Debt, get out here! I’m not playing around!”

After a moment, he poked his head out of the lead carriage. He stepped out calmly and greeted me pleasantly.

“Who did it? Who is enslaving them, lobotomizing them? Give me everything I want to know.”

He spent the next few minutes denying any involvement. He claimed they were convicted criminals from the south. And that he didn’t know any of the people involved.

“Well personally I find it hard to believe. I have spent the greater portion of my life, dealing with you people in one way or another and I’m tired of it. I have put my crusade aside for years now, in hopes I was building something better. It’s getting harder and harder to ignore it. The diamond shield and its victims, the brain surgeons and their victims. I am the Archon of Justice. You have thirty days to find the information I want, and convince me not to bring you and your entire organization crumbling down.” I reached into elsewhere again, pulling out the pistol he gave me. “This is the Catalyst. It is supposed to start something great.” I pulled back the hammer and aimed it at him. “In thirty days, if I don’t hear from you. It will start the greatest crusade Creation has ever seen. Starting with you.” The rest of the Archons, landed around me, I turned and walked away.

I’ve been sent an invitation to a dinner taking place at the Palace of Meetings on the Fourth Rung of the mountain-city of Mahltin. Immediately,
I went back to the rest of the Archons. I showed them the invitation, explained the situation and asked them what they thought I should do. They
all unanimously said exactly what I was afraid of hearing, “You have to go.” I already knew it. There was no telling who was going to be there, or
whether or not it was a trap. But if I didn’t go, there’s no telling what we are passing up. And secondly, we all agreed that if I was going to go
that I had to show up in style. So Kalak and I went shopping.

For years, Sepherene knew that she was an attractive woman. Men have no shame when they see a beautiful girl. But she never knew what she could

look like if she had an expert helping her. She almost felt like a sideshow act as everyone she passed in the few minute walk to carts for the 4th
rung gawked and drooled. One man even walked off the edge the third rung because he wasn’t watching himself. He survived by luck, landing on a
moving cart. It was as if she commanded their attention through supernatural beauty.

When Sepherene arrived, the room was empty except for a large table, a chair at each
end, and a ton of food. On the far side of the room was a balcony. As the door shut behind her, all the noise of Mahltin vanished. Usually in order to be heard, someone had to yell. If she dropped a fork, it might actually echo in here. She stood by the Balcony doors, waiting, enjoying the silence, and attempting to stay calm.

The door opened a few minutes later. In walked a man, unfamiliar to Sepherene. He greeted Sepherene politely and asked her to sit. She did. And after a few minutes of quiet eating, he finally broke the silence. “So you don’t remember me, do you Sepherene?” There were a few moments of confusion, but Sepherene couldn’t place him. Eventually, he stopped playing games and introduced himself. His name was
Forsaken Debt. That’s when it all came back to her.

Back when Sepherene was held by those slavers nearly fifteen years ago, one of them named Ralf, had a son. He was quiet, kept to himself, and seemed like a pretty ordinary child. That is, until she shot Ralf during her escape with the Unconquered Wolf. She had a feeling this dinner may have something to do with that. And when she made herself look up from her food, he was holding an ornate pistol with multiple barrels and and ornate designs across it, spelling out “Catalyst” in Sepherene’s native tongue of Forest-speak.

Sepherene tried to remain calm, but it wasnt working. She was about to flip the table, when he turned the pistol over in his hand, gripping it by the barrel and slid it across the table to her. She picked it up. “A gift? Why?” He smiled. “That day was what sparked a change in my life. In both of our lives. It’s what led us to our own forms of greatness. You rule a city in the Blessed Isle, I’m aligned with the Guild. And that right there is the gun that started it. It marked you, what you would become. It was the Catalyst. So I give it to you, as a gift. May you use it, and start something else great.”

Sepherene didn’t know what to say. He said he was with the Guild. He was working with the Second Hunt. But he wished that we could put that aside. He wants us to be friends.
So they talked a little more, she turned the pistol over in her hands. And then before she knew it, it was time for him to go. He walked over shook her hand. Said he had a lovely time. And turned to go.

Gavol, the devil on her shoulder, popped up out of nowhere, as he tends to do. “Ya know, Seph, he is the enemy. You could kill him. Right here. One shot. He’s not even
an exalt. But this is your last chance.”

Everything went in slow motion. Sepherene thought about it. First, sound proof room. Second, gun in her hand. Third, his back was turned. No defenses. No armor. Gavol was right. She could take out one of the Second Hunt. Send a message. Sepherene raised the Catalyst. He reached the door handle. She pulled back the firing mechanism. “Last Chance Seph!” Forsaken Debt turned around to give one last smile. Sepherene was sitting hands folded on the table. And the door shut.

So I’ve decided to continue writing again, after the last “mission” I’ve gone on. It all started when we arrived back from Imperial City. Cynis Indry had

been pushing the “Demon Scale” business. So I soon found that I didn’t have much time to hand over the scale. I put together a plan, and decided I would march
with him and his men to Psiap’s Stairs, or where ever it was that he was taking it. So I explained to the rest what exactly the situation was and that I would
return within the month.

In the days I spent preparing for the trip, we all began to notice the Gold Legion, Cynis Indry’s men, moving around Beacon and making notes on architecture,

building’s locations, and other important information. It was not unusual for them to be doing such things. After all, that was what they had done in Hjubah to
attempt to find the Vault which held the Demon Scale to begin with. But the other Archons and I felt as if these notes got into the wrong hands that it could be
bad news for us, especially if the hands in question were the dirty hands of the Wyld Hunt. Beacon would be invaded before Kalak could make an inspiring speech
about it…

Three days into the trip to the Stair, we stopped at some open clearing. He gave them an order which I hadn’t entirely heard and they began to spread out

through the clearing and lay a bunch of open pieces of paper on the ground. Once they were finished they all stepped out of the way and I took a look at what
they’ve arranged. It was a large, detailed and functional map of Beacon. Cynis Indry immediately turned to me and began to strike a deal. He asked that if I
wish the map to be destroyed that I should not protest that he put a clamp of some sort on the scale. It was something to magically mark it as his own. It’s
intent is so that when the time comes, if I do not wish to give up the Scale I do not have to power to withhold it from him. He assured me that when he brought
it to the Stair, it would be removed and I could do as I wished. So I complied and took a metaphorical spooful from a bottle labeled Sepherene’s medicine…

A few weeks later, with the map long-burned to ashes, we arrived in Psiap’s Stair. It was a large city, and it housed some type Dragon-blooded training

center. I forget what it was called. Kalak and Leon reminded me a few times. And Indry mentioned it so many that I felt like I should know it more than my own
mother’s name, but it’s hard to remember all of these things about the Realm. I went in with Indry to deliver the Scale. I handed it to him to carry. We trekked
up the beginning of a small mountain where the training center was. We went inside and climbed nearly to the top of that, before we found the hallway that lead
to the “Headmaster’s Quarters.” I didn’t do much while I was there. I may not have even spoken. But I watched the whole trade go down. I watched them talk like
friends. And at one point, I even swear the Headmaster began to stare at me. By the time Indry began to leave, I almost couldn’t stop myself from running out.
I glanced behind me aswe walked down the hall and he was there, staring at me still. I knew that something had gone wrong…

Knowing I didn’t have a lot of time to come up with a plan, and assuming he was suspecting me of being some impostor, I didn’t think it was wise for me to

even leave the training center. I would just hide out inside somewhere and wait for the time to strike. After a few hours, the clock struck midnight. I figured
now would be best. Most of the Dragon-bloods would be asleep. So as I snuck through the hall and decisively incapaciated the few people patrolling the halls, I
soon found myself in the same hallway. I saw two doors: the one to the Headmaster’s quarters and another that Indry had pointed out to be the one he would keep it
in. I crept over, and listened. I heard no movement inside and saw no light coming from under the door. I attempted to text the knob and it was in fact open. This
had to be a trap. But at this point, huddled down in front of a door there was nothing else to do but spring the trap. I silently swung the door open enough for me
to slide in, and smoothly closed it behind me. I turned around to see the Scale standing in the center of the room and the hearthstone was still fitted inside.
Gavol was doing pull-ups on one of the crossbars of the scale. “Hey! You came back for me!!” I was almost startled by the fact that he was yelling, but I
remembered that I’m the only one unlucky enough to be able to hear him. “Hey, to you too.” I whispered, “Now let’s get out of here.” I grabbed the Scale, and spun
around to run out the door and then I realized I almost forgot something. I took out the piece of paper in my pocket and folded it in half to stand it up. The side
facing the door has a symbol of a shadowy mountain. I set it right in the center of the room where the Scale was a moment before. I turned back around to see that I
had failed. The Headmaster was in the doorway…

“Are you here alone?” is the question that sticks in my mind the most. I wasn’t sure how to handle it. It’s obvious he recognized me. He is curious whether the

Ascending Phoenix is here. If he can end the Rebellion and the damage the “Heretics” cause right now. But if I tell him they are not here, then I may invited a fight
that I can not hope to win. “Are you alone here?” I’m not sure whether he repeated it or I asked it so many times that my ears are finally convincing me he said it.
“I am. I do not need them. I am the Shadow of the Mountain.” And before I knew what was happening he moved out of my way and allowed me to go free. “The Shadow of
the Mountain has struck again!” I soared through the hallways before the dragon-bloods could respond to my screams.

The Divine Banquet. That is the idea I returned to Beacon to find out about. The Archons are in the middle of near-open war with the Realm and Kalak wants to

throw a party. It sounds about right. At first, I thought it was a very dumb idea but it turns out there have been some developments since I left with Indry. Siphon
of the Blue Void came by to let us know that the Wyld Hunt has been called off. It appears no one seems to know why, but apparently some other threat has begun to
crawl out of the shadows. I suppose we’re very lucky. So with this newly discovered time of peace, we get to work on the gathering allies. Which I suppose means
preparing for the Divine Banquet.

Every new year, during the five day calibration, the Hall of the Coiled Sun was the place to be. Lord Circon would throw a party for all of the Dragonswrath

Plains, including Gods, Elementals, and Exalts. If all goes as planned we are going to spend the next 21 months preparing a festival of such magnitude the Gods will
have no other choice but to ally themselves with us. We shall show ourselves to be capable of orchestrating large affairs, entertaining supernatural beings, and that
we are fair and just people deserving to rule their lands. If we can sway the Gods, the people and cities will follow in suit…

I’ve just returned from the Dragon’s Gate. It was quite an adventure. We met with the God, Diegan, to discuss a possible alliance and to invite him to the Divine

Banquet. He was glad to help us as soon as we proved to him that the Scarlet Empress was gone and the Realm had been lying to him for years. After that betrayal, he
wanted nothing to do with them. But that left us with one problem. The Realm cities that were on either side of him had warehouses that were wired to his gate and
slowly sapped his essence to power their war machines. We needed to break the machine connected to his gates. I suggested that Camreal and I go to the base that is
“Less Guarded.” While sending Kalak and Leon to handle the “war bunker” that was the other warehouse. They agreed and we set out on our separate ways. Ours was simple.
I went in, stole a warstrider and attempted to blow up the building. In the mean time, Camreal snuck over and worked his geomancy to overload the machines and make
sure the machines will never operate again. I don’t entirely know what happened in the other one but from what I understand, Kalak almost died. And Leon had to save
him by using that new fiery cape. Maybe we can trust Leon…

Day 5 of Preparation

We’ve finally give everyone their jobs for the next 21 months. A large portion of the people are rebuilding the city after the little firepollen incident. That

will take time. It would be best if the whole city was completed by the time the gods arrive. I got stuck with invitations.

Day 45 of Preparation-

A large portion of invitations were filled out incorrectly. Faron didn’t entirely explain how but we have to redo 200 invitations and summonings..

Day 85 of Preparation

We are attempting to get all the invitations prepared. But we lack the man power. The City is taking longer than expected but everything else is going well. The

Decorations could probably be finished in a month if we were still so far away.

Day 210 of Preparation

Cutters do not cook well. But one did fall into a cauldron of steamed beetles. We’re not sure whether it would but considered an exotic twist or an insult. I

constantly find myself exhaus

Day 315 of Preparation

We’re halfway to Calibration and nothing is complete. I’ve begun to worry that we’ve bitten off more than we can chew. I mean, who knew so many Gods eat cats?

Day 450 of Preparation

Invitations are finally complete. I can finally sit back and relax. This is such a relief. I just have to wait for everyone to finish their assignments. And I

just received news that the city is fully repaired.

Day 451 of Preparation

I hate this banquet. Why am I gardening now?

Day 525 of Preparation

Kalak has set up some kind of electric instrument orchestra so that he can perform for the Gods. I hope it’s enough for them.

Day 600 of Preparation

Everything is just about done. We have a month until Calibration and everything is set up. Now we just have to hope everyone arrives.

Day 1 of Calibration

It is starting in just under an hour. I told everyone I needed a few minutes to calm down. I figured I would come and make another small passage. It truly is

a terrifying thought that we have to entertain hundreds of Gods for 5 whole days hoping that nothing goes wrong. At least we know Silken Venom isn’t going to do
anything crazy. He’s been willing to help us this whole time.

Four hours later

I’m going to kill Silken Venom. How dare he kill the Sea of Amber Blades?! Investigation is necessary but it will not take long.

Day 3 of Calibration- Mid-day

We’ve investigated the last of the usual suspects. I can’t believe none of them have done it. I’m not sure why anyone else would’e. There’s no motive.

Day 4 of Calibration

Nobody knows that the Sea of Amber Blades is dead. And we saw another star fall. We can only assume another God has died. In an attempt to give a reason to note

attendance, I orchestrated the greatest game of hide and seek creation has ever known. Seven hours later, it ended. It was a bad idea. But we discovered it wasn’t
one of ours. I suppose it was just a coincidence…

Day 5 of Calibration

We got all the way to the end of the Ceremony without anyone realizing he was dead. There was one thing that Faron didn’t mention. The Sea of Amber Blades is

supposed to make a speech declaring how good the Banquet was. We were just about to come out with the news, when there was a commotion down in the town square. A
straw hat erupted into a burst of fire and light. And within a moment, the Sea of Amber Blades was there. Alive and Well. He congratulated us on the Divine Banquet
being the best one he’s ever attended. He declared that everyone else should come back next year. And then the fireworks started. I remember looking up at the sky,
thinking to myself “They surprised us with fireworks!” It was an uplifting moment after finding out I’ve been chasing ghosts for 5 days for absolutely no other
reason than a dumb prank. I heard someone behind me ask Sea of Amber Blades about the second shooting star and how he made them fall. I knew what his response was
going to be before he could even say. Those weren’t fireworks. They were shooting stars. And their numbers may be in the hundreds…

It’s been 6 months since Calibration. Time has been flying by recently. It is alarming. We still have no idea what happened to the stars. The Loom of Fate is

going nuts all the time. Apparently nobody in Yu-Shan can read it. And I just left a meeting Siphon of the Blue Void where he told us that we are being hunted again.
Luckily, it’s not the true Wyld Hunt. But it is definitely not going to be easy. They asked for volunteers to form a hunt, so naturally five of our greatest enemies
decided to form up. They include Father Downpour, Magistrate Falchion, Cathak Atmus, a high-level Guild official, and someone else. I remember them saying something
about the fifth member killing one of this circle right before I became part of it, two years ago. Knowing this now, I’m not sure whether I was allowed to help because
of my value or as a replacement of their “Mapis Maluni” or whatever. One of Camreal’s trees on the edge of the city just lit up. I supppose I should go check it out…

As I investigated the trees. I found a guard of Beacon saying that this has been happening recently and three guards have gone missing recently. I decided to

go investigate, so I contacted I-am and requested he alert the others. Along the way, there were some rather large bees that attacked. It was odd, but not nearly
as alarming as we would come to find out. When we reach a small abandoned farm house, we found 6 people that had been mutated into monsters. Apparently, Leon
recognized it as the Wyld Pox. It is an infectious disease that pops up around the Dragonswrath plains now and again. And it has rapid effects of the Wyld. We used
I-am to contact Virtuous Reed and when he arrived, he had brought along one of Leon’s henchmen. They brought news that in our absence, The Hall of the Coiled Sun was
infiltrated and Silas was injured. So we were forced to hurry back in case something went terribly wrong. As it turns out, Silas stumbled upon someone inside the Hearth
room and they attacked him. We investigated the room after we were sure Silas was going to make it. They opened up a map of the Dragonswrath plains and stabbed into the
city of Mhaltin was a large blade that had words running up the side that read “All Ties Must End.” Surrounding the dagger were four items but I’m afraid the Guild
crest is the only one that I can think of. It is burned into my mind so deeply. This is the most threatened I’ve felt since my escape. The Wyld Hunt, although more
powerful, was not as terrifying because it wasn’t as personal. This is someone that knows what I have done, and some would say I have wronged. We’ve all discussed
what we want to do about this and it seems we are all on the same page. We can not sit by and be hunted. Effective immediately, we are going to Mhaltin and we will
make the hunters become the Hunted…

We went through the armory, gathered our gear, alerted everyone to our trip and gathered the other exalts to let them know that they are the last line of defense

while we are gone. We saddled up our horses and began to ride across the plains. Days later, we are coming up over a hill and we began to feel a pulsing through
the ground. It felt almost like a heartbeat. Ba-Bum. Ba-Bum. Ba-Bum. And as we reached the top, we saw what was causing it. The city of Mhaltin is a large city, with
tons of ground-breaking technology. It is built into a large mountain and it uses monorails and wired-carts to move people from place to place. We entered the city
soon after with our fake visas from Siphon of the Blue Void. We were placed on level two of four. And apparently level four is where the leaders of the city stay.
I assume that is where the Replacement Hunt is staying. Once we got settled into the Inn, I headed up to level 3 to see how tight security is. I swiped a few visas
from some of the rich people just to realize how rare level fours really are. That’s when I felt a tug at my clothing. “Excuse me, are you Maiden Sepherene?” I
turned around to find a small boy holding a piece of paper. I had a brief moment of quiet panic again, like when I was confronted by the Headmaster. “Why, yes I am.”
I kneeled down beside him. “What can I do for you?” And without saying another word, he handed me the piece of paper in his hand and ran off…

“You have been cordially invited to dinner. This is clearance for level four. Come Alone.” And instead of a signature there was a small Guild symbol. It looked

just like the one back in Beacon. That scared feeling of being hunted was suddenly back. And it doesn’t seem to be going away…

The crew and I returned to Beacon after a little while and although I would’ve liked nothing more than a little relaxation, that’s not the
life of a “God.” Before we knew it, we were summoned to see Virtuous Reed. In our absense, he has continued with some of his science projects.
He summoned us because he realized a project of his had gone missing. He had been working on some type of cross-pollination in an attempt
to create a flower that produces firedust. You can load it into a fire wand and it goes boom. But it also has an odd side-effect. If it is
ingested in just about any way, the subject feels a rush of euphoria. The feel on top of the world, and for the most part it’s true. Because
once the spontaneous fires start spawning around them, well.. you get the idea. We hadn’t fully realized the severity of the condition until
we tried to track the thief. Before we knew it, Camreal had sniffed out enough of a trail to set fire to a rather large portion of Beacon.
We were moving through the city attempting to save as many people and homes as we could, but it was spreading too quickly. I did the only
thing I could. I used a technique I learned not too long ago and channeled my strength. I picked up Camreal and hurled him to the edge of the
city. Then I continued crashing through walls and saving the people of Beacon. The lucky thing is Gods know other gods.. Or at least in our
case. I look up into the sky to see a large tidal wave about to come washing down over the city. Riding this wave are two familiar faces.

One is a bit dragon-like and I know it to be Cobalguin, a Dragon, River-God and ally. We share the worship of Beacon in this Pantheon and
recently my Sisters have been staying with him so he can gain his strength back. He has been teaching them and they have been praying. Every
one benefits while I’ve been off in Hjubah.

The second was Drana, my second in command of our Sisters and, I suppose, my best friend. She has helped me with so much. After the death of
the Unconquered Wolf of the Diamond Shield, I exalted and everyone looked to me for leadership as they had with Wolf. But the moral of the
story was that I hadn’t been in the game nearly as long as he had. Or I think. To be honest, I hadn’t had much opportunity to hear about
Wolf. He kept everything pretty tight to the vest around us. But when I had to give everyone direction, Drana was there to help me.

And in moments the wave crashes over the city, drowning all the raging fires. The people of Beacon were saved from certain doom. But the theft
was no closer to being solved. Whoever they were, they were good..

A few days later, a message arrives at the Hall of the Coiled Sun. Cynis Indry is on his way. He will be arriving in a few days and we are
to have a meal and the Demon Scale prepared. We set everything up for him and his people. And when he arrives, I am forced to tell him that
there was a mix up with the message. I did not intend for him to come so quickly because in my haste, I misspoke. I just meant to warn him
where we were, and that I was not running out on our deal. He was not happy. I could tell that much. But at this point there was nothing he
could do about it. With how much I’ve helped him, he still owed me. The Demon Scale is the find of a century, not to mention the history
associated with it.

We begin to figure out our next move. With only 5 months left until Calibration, we start to look into the remaining deal we have with the
time limit of the new Year. I should clarify. With the Chitin business taken care of, the only deal left is the two artifacts that have
been promised to the Shadow of the Mountain. Kalak made a deal with this Abyssal back near the beginning of the year and has since delayed
returning these artifacts to him because there was another bargain with Nelens Wysell saying that he could use them as blackmail against the
House Regara. So in the months since, we’ve been letting Wysell take them to the Imperial City to be used in the “Deliberative.”

Sure enough, before we can have a discussion about this, news comes from the Imperial City. The meeting in the Deliberative was scheduled
to be held within a week. Quite frankly, I thought Kalak was going to have a bad run of luck, because even in all my power traveling from
Beacon to the Imperial city would take at least eight times that amount. I thought we were going to have to chalk it up to a loss before we
realized just how much we are capable of.

As it turns out, we have an air aspect inside Beacon that has consistent contact with a Sidereal, Siphon of the Blue Void. And his mission is
to get us Solar Exalts into power and ruling creation again. It’s quite a great idea, honestly. Although I’m entirely unsure how one would
go about ruling all of creation.. The Air Aspect happens to know a teleport spell that can put us anywhere on creation instantly. At first, it
seemed to be a problem because the spell is a one way ticket. (ANACHRONISM!) But the Gold Faction has a base set up in the city.

So we spend the day preparing the spell and packing our things. Eventually everyone is standing in a room with the Air Aspect, Siphon
of the Blue Void and Shadow of the Mountain. It takes a few minutes to explain the situation such as where we will be arriving, how much time
we have in the city, and any other miscellaneous information. And all the while a small breeze is swirling through the room. I remember thinking
about the possible consequences of going into the Imperial City as the wind picked up and erased it from my mind. It almost felt as if I had to
hold my ground against the wind, but at the same time weightless. All of a sudden the world around me went black, then white. It was as if I was
a living painting on a blank canvas. And suddenly details began to appear before my eyes. First the outlines, then the colors, then the textures.
It appears like one of I-Am’s rendered images when he’s multitasking too much. But soon enough, it’s as if we’ve been in that room the whole time.

I take a look around and we seem to be in some type of clocktower with a bunch of machines set up and a dozen people working furiously on
something. We were introduced to the Gold Faction members, given Realm disguises, and shown a large map of the city. And we get to work
immediately concocting a plan…

Its been six days.. We have no idea what we’re doing. Especially me. I’m currently locked inside a vault in the museum. It all started last week
when we tried to set up a master plan for this “Heist”, as Kalak called it. We found out all the possible routes the Yeddim could take. Yeddim are
massive mammoths the Dragon-bloods use for hauling. We did a stake out on the factory that destroys and rebuilds the artifacts. We came up with a ton
of different ideas. I thought it would be a good idea to hide inside the museum and wait for the Curator to open it. And sure enough he did. I attempted
to sneak past him on his way out. And although I got what I desired, I could swear he saw me. And winked. Of course, he then shut the door behind me and
locked me in here. For all I know, when it opens I will be greeted by the 100 most powerful dragon bloods in the Imperial City. It appears empty, and the
floor is covered in what I can only describe as pressure plates.

So we’ve made it out of Imperial City. I was not in a favorable position when the morning came. I heard the door unlocking, and used an essence technique
to make the eyes of others pass over me without hesitation. But I was standing in the center of the vault, which was exactly where they were to put the large
chest. I saw Curator walk in, chest in hand and walked directly to me. I could tell there would not be enough room on the plate where I was standing. It was
either me or the chest. So I did the only thing I could and stepped backwards. There was a loud click and the Curator looked up from the chest. And looked
me right in the eye. “Oh no! I think someone is in here!” he yelled. And the door shut.

What happened next was all done in such a blur, I never stood a chance. The chest dropped to the floor, he kicked the chest into me, and it threw me into the
wall. I opened my eyes, the chest pinning me to the back of the wall and the curator standing right on the other side of it. With all my strength, I pushed
back against him, but it was clearly pointless. The curator was not happy about thieves stealing from him. I attempted to persuade him with the idea that he
couldn’t stop us. There were too many. But I was wrong, yet again. He said we werent leaving with it, but he would allow us to leave. Since he didn’t want to
out me and have me killed, despite it being simpler, I decided it was time for a gambit.

“I once traded a treasured artifact from an immaculate monk for the Ascending Phoenix. And then stole the Phoenix back from him.” The scale tipped. But in no
time it tipped back in the Curators favor.

“I am worshiped by an entire city as a God!” I yelled. I thought I had him. That was it. The scale was tipped so far.

“I am the Shadow of the Mountain and my presence extends far beyond my physical being!” The scale flipped on me, and the next thing I know I am laying on the
ground and I have to fight to remain conscious. I felt myself being lifted, and there is a loud clang as I can only assume the door opens. I remember thinking
“This is it. I’ve pushed it too far this time. We’ve all been had. That Abyssal tricked us into coming to the Imperial City. And now I’ve doomed us all.”
But as Creation has shown me many times, I am almost always incorrect.

The Shadow of the Mountain is an ancient Night Caste from the First Age. He has been the curator for pretty much ever. And he has a group of people that move
throughout Creation and thieve under the name Shado"ww of the Mountain. I never stood a chance in that “Weigh-In.” He had the deeds of presumably hundreds to
help him, not to mention everything he has done.

He was forgiving though. He allowed us to leave, he even gave us the artifacts, but for a price. Apparently the Hall of the Coiled Sun was once inhabited by
some very dear friends of his, and our suits were once owned by them. He said if we handed in the suits, we could take them. So we did. Before we left, he
also extended me an offer if I chose. I could be a Shadow of the Mountain. Of course I accepted. After that, we ran away yelling “The Shadow of the Mountain
had done it again!” We ran to the clock tower. And before we knew it, we were rendering again. We were back in Beacon.

Inspection… What kind of inspection? The ghostly soldiers were moving to some type of predetermined positions around the Citadel of Points. Some were on the walls looking out into the distance, but all of them were at complete attention. Kalak and I moved up on to the walls while Camreal and Leon ran away. The Dust Dragon was beginning to form off in the distance. Kalak and I watched as the Dragon moved closer and closer. I began demanding it declare itself, attempting to see if it was sentient. After all, if it could inspect the soldiers, it had to be capable of thought. But it simply ignored me. It came right up to the gates and waited for them to open. And as soon as they did it strolled through the courtyard, making sure everything was in its rightful place. Everyone took turns attempting to interact with it. Some more aggressive than others. Camreal ended up ok though. Kalak was finally the one to get through to the thing, once it realized the true power of his presence. He started talking to it, but all it could do is screech and metallic roar. Leon and I watched from a safe distance while the communication attempts still fail. All the while that’s happening, Camreal moves into the Citadel and notices a few guards that are acting differently. Instead of standing motionless and staring blankly, there were a few of them that were attempting to pick up pieces of a window and wall and place them back together. After a moment they complete it, and the Dragon begins to dissolve.
We watch as the remnants of the dragon crash to the ground. But as that happens, I see a tiny glint of light. It was falling as if part of the Dragon. It was a sickly green that turned my stomach.And it was gone as quickly as it had come. My first thought was that maybe it was a side effect of the erratic essence flows through Hjubah mixed with geomancy of the defenses. I request Leons papers he found in the Temple we had been at a few hours prior. After a few moments of research I found that my hypothesis was incorrect. Next, my thoughts wandered to the Shining Path. They did have some weird green torches. But then on the last bit of records that Leon gave me, I notice some reports that talk of an eerie green light making people sick. Complaints they sound like. But I decided to go back to the Temple to find proof.
After tearing the Temple apart looking for proof, I found the reports I was looking for.

They explain in greater detail the complaints that were coming in about the light. They
seemed to be centralized around the Manse but there were sightings all over the city.
Eventually all the information lead back to the Prefect. Something around him, or the Prefect himself, was causing this green light. And since we were searching for him, that would mean..I rushed back to the Citadel knowing now just how screwed we might be.

We attempted to summon the Prefects soul after I filled everyone in on the details. But there was no success. It doesn’t make any sense. If the green came from the Dragon, then that would mean that the Prefect is involved with it. But we could not bring his soul back. After a bit of thought we decide to go in and call it a night. It was geting dark anyway. I could not help but wrack my brain over and over trying to make sense of this. This all makes sense somehow. We lay down for the night, ghostly soldiers leaving us to ourselves. I was asleep as soon as my eyes were closed. It was definitely a long day. Although, that seems to be the pattern in Hjubah. I did not rest easy though. I was plagued by dreams of a dark, rocky manse floating high above the city and slowly drifting back down into its rightful place, coincidentally crushing the Shining Path. Or it popping back its existence and them being simply wiped away in place of it. I continuously saw flashes of the paintings I found in the library. The Scarlet Empress stared deep into my eyes with her cruel, evil eyes and her arrogant grin. Knowing the knowledge I seek is so clearly out of my grasp. I could almost see her taking the hearthstone and swinging it in front of my face. That green star. All seven points. Seven

reasons I can’t find it. Its nauseating. The green stone..

I woke with a startle. Sitting up immediately, I yell “Of course!” Everyone behind me awakes but I pay them no attention. I merely put on my shoes and go sprinting out into the rubble of the Dust Dragon. Using whatever strength I have in me, I start tearing through the remnants of skyscapers and other building and materials that made up such a fearsome beast. After what seems like forever I reach the bottom. I turn over what had to be the last stone for what felt like the fifth time and there it is. I found it. I see a green stone, fashioned into a seven pointed star. And it was just lying there at my feet. I reached down and picked it up. And in the time it took me to stand up straight, it crumbled to dust in my fingertips. “What? No! NO! NO! NO!”
I’m sure I heard the others standing behind saying things like “She’s lost her mind, huh?” But I was too busy trying to think about what just happened. “I don’t understand. It was right there!” After a few minutes I give up and go back inside and attempt to get some actual rest. But it doesn’t even matter. “At this rate, we’ll be dead by calibration.”
We woke the next morning ready to start again. This time Kalak has an idea. He decides to try summoning Twenty Feathered Stride. He tells the tale of our group because he heard that is how Twenty Feathered was worshiped. Sure enough, at the end of the tale, the ground began to rumble.
The dragon reappeared from the rubble I had thrown everywhere a few hours ago while searching for the hearthstone. And this time it took no effort for Kalak to gather its attention towards him. He asked it questions again but all it could do was screech. Then Kalak grabbed a stick and carved a large question in the ground. “Can you understand this?” And it carved a positive answer into the ground. This continued a time or two and eventually it said it would show us the Prefect. The dragons eyes, one small blue and one larger yellow, changed sizes. The blue was now bigger. Also, the body language changed. The way the Dragon held itself changed slightly.
“You’re the Prefect?” I asked. And again, the giant finger made of rock and metal dragged its way through the ground. YES. “We are looking for the manse. The one that you were attuned to. Do you know where it is?” Instead of carving a message in the ground this time, it simply head out it’s gigantic hand in front of me. I looked closer. In the center of its hand sat the hearthstone. It held it there as if waiting for me to take it. I slowly reached out and took it from its hand. And this time it didn’t turn to dust. It was real. I started to attune to it.
The nausea was hitting me hard. I didn’t realize I was starting fade into unconsciousness. But I was brought back to reality when I heard a loud screeching metal sound. I stared up, trying to get my eyes to focus. The Dragon was roaring and the yellow eye was larger again. Twenty Feathered Stride was angry. I could see large chunks of the Dragon falling to the ground. It seemed to be falling apart without the power of the Manse. It started attacking and we started fleeing. Everything was kind of hazy, but I remember Camreal flying at me in full human form. It took me a second to realize that he can’t fly of his own power when in human form. I thought it would be a great idea to use essence to phase past him. Until I realized how fast he was going to slam into the ground. I grabbed his legs and even with my strength we tumbled to the ground. Although I did slow him down enough to prevent him from becoming a hieroglyph. There was a bright flash and Leon was up by its head. I was about to call him insane before I realized he was saving Kalak.
A few moments later the Dragon fell to pieces and we were walking back to the Fluid Residence. I had the Seven Pointed Star and we just had to go and try the Scale. When we returned, it was straight to the hearthroom. I put the hearthstone in the scale and it was a seamless fit. That’s when I heard a new voice. And sitting on the scale was a small impish devil. He said his name was Gavol. And that we were now stuck with each other. He said he is the First Circle Demon who was tasked with being the Judge of the Scale. Except instead of being there when the scale is used, he is there all the time. As long as I am attuned to them, he is there. And at first he didn’t tell me, but I’m the only one that can see him. I feel like this will wear on me after a while. But he says that he will share all of the secrets of the Scale with me as time goes on.
After trying to convince the others to try and wager the power of their souls against one another and getting nowhere, I went to Indry and explained that I would like to test the scale. He got the Tepets to come and wager it out. In the end, Tepet Felo won over Xuma but I think finally realizing that they did all of those things together brought them closer as siblings.
So since I knew how the scale worked, we were free to leave Hjubah. Or so I thought. Apparently, Leon does have a trait or two of his people and I don’t mean the power over fire. I will admit, when he told me that Kathak Draven was in Hjubah and he’s been watching us, I wanted to kill him. I’ve killed fire aspects before and I’m sure I will do it again. It may even be Leon. But sadly, I was able to keep my frame of mind and maintain enough restraint. I’m pretty sure he’ll still be able to see my handprint on his face a week from now. It took me a while to calm down but once I did, he was able to explain the full situation to me.
He had sent an ally of his to follow Draven and report in and give us an idea of when he was coming. But on his way back to us, it became known that he was being followed. He ended up leading them right to Hjubah. So apparently, the blue haired woman I saw a few days ago, was one of Dravens people. That’s when he found out they were in Hjubah. They said that we are not to leave the city and that Leon has to hand in the Ascending Phoenix or we all die. We all talk about our options for pretty much ever. And finally we decide to find another way out of the city. That’s when I had the idea. I told them I would like to stay behind. I was going to talk with Gavol. Leon caught on and decided to stay also. He decided it would be a bad idea, if Kathak saw him out searching for secret tunnels.
Once everyone had left, I turned to Leon. “I understand why you did what you did. I want to trust you and Kalak and Camreal. But with that being said, we have agreed on two things. And I think it’s time we took care of them.”
Leon and I arrived in the blotch in no time. We knocked on the door, brought in a crate of “supplies” and walked straight down to the two guiding lights of the Shining Path. I started off the conversation by asking them for help. But they didnt seem inclined. I even tried persuading them by telling them that the Wyld Hunt wants their son. Their response was more or less a giant “So?” I tried to pluck at their heartstrings by explaining I would love to bring his body back but they love to burn the Anathema. And all their compassion for their first born child amounted to “Well be sure to sweep up the ashes for us.” The monsters they’ve become since the Deathlord got his hands on their souls. I couldn’t keep this up much longer. I was being filled with rage by these evil bastards. Finally, I gave up restraint. “Well it seems you can’t help us. Leon? It would seem this was a USELESS effort…” Then he proceeded to take the “supplies” and does a polite half bow directly in front of them, before blowing the crate up. It all happened so quickly after this.
We both phased from the physical plane for an instant with our essence techniques. Just long enough to dodge the explosions. Apparently when we came in with one of the crates of “supplies” the Juggernaut took it upon himself to bring the rest of them inside. When we returned to our natural state, we were standing on the Jade platform that made the vault. The cathedral was dust. And crouching and covering Camreal’s parents was the Juggernaut. It stood up and revealed their mangled bodies but they were clearly still alive. I stared into the sky and saw thousands of souls that the Shining Path had been collecting, flying off across the city. There was no time to deal with that though. I looked over at Leon. “I’ll keep him busy. Finish this.” I turned and brought

up the scale. I dashed forward and as I was swinging the scale towards the top of the Juggernaut. I heard the familiar voice of the little devil on my shoulder. “Extend the orbs chains.” I willed it and although my attack initially missed, the chains extended much farther than I thought possible and wrapped completely around the Juggernaut. “Indestructible. He wont be breaking those.” That’s when I saw the jets of flame and smelled the burning flesh. They were dead for sure. Everything went white for a moment.

I ran up as fast as I could, slamming my fists on the door as hard as I could. “HELP!

SOMEBODY!” Wolf was waiting down the hill counting to thirty before he followed. As the door opened, I saw a man in Immaculate robes standing there. He did not seemed pleased. “Please sir, I’m being chased by bandits. Do you offer safety?” He stopped just a moment to consider the options. “Very well. Come in, dea-” His eyes shot over my head to the man charging up the hill. I had no idea how he knew, but before I could enter the doorway he shoved me back and yelled, “Anathema!!!” As the door shuts, Wolf charges into it. There’s a loud crack and it doesn’t budge. “That was fast. Normally it takes a whole minute before the covers blown..” He throws his shoulder into it one last time, and the door finally gives out. He stumbles through, and sees two men, each with
daiklaves. They glance at each other and take a stance. I attempt to sneak through the doorway but there seems to be something stopping me. Something I can’t see. Before I can react, a fierce battle begins. Swords slash faster than my eyes can blink. The Wolf starts to give off an intense light and the two men surround themselves with a fiery aura. I took my razor claws, slashing against the solid air. I gave it a good kick and still nothing. I had to help him. That’s when I saw it. One of the men leaped over the Wolf, landed on the other side of him, and put his hand out. Flame spilled out over the Wolf in an instant. And his skin was vanishing before my eyes. “NOOO!!!” Tears started to well up. There was a flash of white again.

I came to and I felt as if I could still hear the screaming. As my vision cleared, almost no time had passed. But I did hear the screaming. It was from the Juggernaut, who was still pulling at the chains of the Scale. But it did him no good. It almost sounded like the Juggernaut was…crying. Then out of the jade came large red spines, splitting the jade. One of them opened and out came Chitin.He seemed a normal size man, but he had large red gauntlets and a very cold look in his eyes. The Juggernaut finally untangled himself from the chains and ran at the new opponent. But with no effort Chitin pushed him back and tore the armor open. He turned away back towards the bodies. He reached out towards Leon and pushed him aside gently. And then he bent down and tore dark, nasty energy from their chest. I’m sure it was their soul and exaltation. Chitin stood back up and went for the juggernaut. I stepped forward and saw a child sitting inside the armor. “Chitin. He is a boy. He is not necessary.” I was hoping I did not just make myself an target of his frustrations. "Very well. You know, as the

contract says, you can call on me. I will uphold that." And he was gone.

Before me and Leon had time to discuss what we’ve done Kalak came crashing down to the jade platform we’ve been standing on. For what felt like the hundreth time I heard him yell “What did you do?” At first I tried to explain but then Leon had the idea to have I-am show him a video of the goings on with Camreal’s parents. So we discussed what we did. But we conveniently left out the part about Chitin. And then they said that we have a way out. We went back to the Fluid Residence and after ensuring nobody would witness our escape, we ran off into a dark secret tunnel.
We walked for days. Even weeks. Eventually we came out exactly where Kalak thought we would. He has a friend with a large snake and a tunnel network to a ton of cities around the plains, including Beacon. So we’ve been inside this snake for about 18 hours now. We’ll be back to our home any time now.

Faced with untold danger from a giant dragon made out of the ruins of Hjubah, Sepherene weighed the odds of activating her armor. The pros outweigh the cons.

“Stealth mode: Engage.”

All of a sudden, Sepherene felt a pulling from the center of her chest. It was an extremely uncomfortable feeling. To push away the nausea, Sepherene had to close her eyes. After a second, the feeling leaves her and she reopens her eyes to find all of her equipment missing. She was missing her armor, her hearth stones, everything. Her boots! Her claws!

Sepherene began to feel weak. They were just gone. How could they be gone. She
began checking her body to see if all of it was just invisible. But she could her skin. She could tell she was no longer weighed down by all the metal. Her vision started to fade. One of the last things she heard was “Why aren’t you running?!”

White out

Before Sepherene could realize what was going on around her, she was back in one
of the many safehouses around creation The Unconquered Wolf of the Diamond Shield
had set up. If she remembered this one, she was in Port Calin. It was the first safehouse she had been brought to since her rescue from the Guildmen. She could feel herself striding through the hall towards the Wolf’s room. There’s no way Sepherene could forget this moment. This is when she made the choice to devote her life to working with the Unconquered Wolf, and destroying the Guild and House Cynis of the Realm. Sepherene was so nervous. She worried so much about what the Wolf would say, that she couldn’t walk in right away. She paced the hall for a few moments trying to gather the courage. Through the door she could hear voices.

“We have to send her home.”

“Drana, she’s not going to want to go home. She can’t. She’s been so strong for so long, she wouldn’t fit back at home. Her parents will treat her like the baby she was and she will give in to it. Stagnant waters spoil.”

“Wolf, she deserves to go home. She’s going to want revenge but she’s not like you. She’s gonna find out how little she’s capable of, and it’s going to crush her. Or worse, she’s going to die out there trying to keep up with you.”

“I wouldn’t let her die. I wouldn’t let any of you die.”

“Of course not, but Seph and I kind of looked out for each other in Bright Harbor. I know how she is and I want her to be happy. She is my friend and she should go home.”

“That’s neither my choice to make, nor is it yours. She’ll tell us what she wants. After
all, you want to stay.”

“Thats different. Just think about it.”

“I have. If she wishes to stay, I’m going to help her, train her, and give her these.”

“She cant use those.”

“Anyone can, with training.”

Sepherene came to her senses. She heard footsteps coming towards the door. And here she is standing right in front of it. Eavesdropping no less. She sideshifted into the room across the hall and quietly pushed the door closed. After she heard the one leave, she opened the door again and saw Wolf taking a pair of golden boots and putting them in a chest. A golden glow shined from inside.

“Wolf, I’d like to talk..”

White out

It was approaching twilight, when Sepherene left the cabin of the Lady’s Luck. She was
carrying a chest out of the cabin and down to the stern. She set the chest down on the deck in front a man sized white sheet. Slowly the rest of the Night-sisters gathered around.

“It is time to say good bye to our friend and leader. The name Unconquered Wolf of the
Diamond Shield has struck fear in the name of the Guild for a long time. Sadly, his war
with them is over. But our war is just beginning. It’s no longer just about the Guild.
It’s about The Realm, House Cynis, and Nexus. It’s about freedom. About all women having control of their lives, no longer being toys and objects to be bought and sold by men. It’s about no longer having to lose ones we love to the Terrestrials playing King. By the time we are done with this war, we will bring about a new age. An age of the Unconquered.”

After a few moments of lighting candles and saying prayers, the women take the man under the sheet, set him in a boat. Sepherene reaches out and opens the chest she had carried out. She takes a pair of steel claws and boots out of the chest and sets them in the boat with him.

Then together they lower it into the water. It begins to separate from the Lady’s Luck.
And then one of the women set it ablaze with an arrow.

“He was a dear friend, a mentor, and a true hero. He did all he could to save everyone.
And in the end, this is where his destiny lead him. He is with the Unconquered Sun now.”

“What are they doing? Playing cards?” Drana says. The rest of the women laugh and crack a smile for the first time in days.

Sepherene reaches into the chest and pulls out a larger, shinier pair of claws and boots.
Obviously orichalcum.

As I last left off, we were relaxing in the Fluid Residence after visiting the museum. We
took a small amount of time to discuss the things I found there. From what it appears, theoriginal manse of Hjubah that had caused the explosion that destroyed the city was no ordinary manse. Based on the evidence I found, it would appear that two people were the only ones to ever attune to it. Those people were the Scarlett Empress and the Prefect of Hjubah. And until now, they were probably the only ones that knew its true design.

Cynis Indry opened the vault he was looking for a few days ago, as I’ve already said. And
from it we recieved the Demon Scale. As we now know for sure, that vault was part of the original manse. And they were most definitely linked. The manse by design is one hundred percent, a malfean manse. It was a manse drawing energy from hell. And those attuned to it have the ability to operate the Demon Scale.

Now with those two being the only ones that have attuned to it, I have reason to believe
that if the manse is still intact, then it would be free to attune to. After all, the prefect is dead. And the Scarlett Empress has been missing for a very long time. It is thought that she is dead, of course nobody knows how.

I spent much of the night writing, and plotting. I don’t trust any of these men with the
true power of the Demon Scale. I can not allow them to get their hands on a hearthstone. I believe the best way to ensure the Demon Scale is used for purposes worthy of the Unconquered, is for me to monitor its use. So I must find a way to distract the rest of them and tear them away from the search for the manse. But things have been so crazy it is impossible to tell whats going to happen.

After all, when we awoke we decided our next action would be to try and find the Prefect’s spirit. Hopefully, it is still lingering in Hjubah. But if we can find him we can surely
find out more about the location to this manse. Or some valuable information to how it
operated. To know how something works is the best way to know how break it and how to fix it.

We followed the aquaducts as far as we could. And then started to move among the ruins. We saw the Citadel of points, but continued on. We figured the best place to start would be the Temple. So we continued walking. We moved around skyscraper after skyscraper until we thought there couldn’t be anymore. All of a sudden we turn a corner, to where the Temple should be and see a huge wall in front of us.

Everyone begins to investigate by moving around it, I decided it would be much faster to reach the top of it. So me and Camreal race to the top and after I soar into the air, I
look down to see the Temple on top of a huge hexagonal pillar with a diameter of a few
hundred feet. But the are stairs to get to the top of it. And so I contact I-am to tell
him to share this information with them. Eventually we are all on top of the hexagon.

The Temple is very obviously a temple of the air. There are sails covering almost the
whole thing. As we enter we feel a cool, constant, and controlled breeze going through the entire temple. Kalak suggests that we split up and search the place. I find the Essence Affairs Chamber. And begin looking through things. I don’t find much of value except for a name. Twenty Feathered Stride. The God of Hjubah. He’s gotta know the most. And whether they know it or not, I’m going to find him.

During this time, everyone has come up empty. Camreal has attempted to summon the the Prefect’s spirit. But he wound up summoning a different one. That spirit told us that the prefect left, because he used to have weekly meetings with Twenty Feathered Stride. Sadly, we are not sure where to look for him. These meetings constantly changed places. So it seems as if our only hope is Twenty Feathered Stride.

As this conversation ends, we hear a bell ring. The bell is clearly at the top of the Temple. It seemed completely normal until the shrieking started. And the metal on metal grinding. Curious what was happening, we turn towards the exit and see outside the door, there are skyscapers breaking apart and shifting, and rebuilding itself. After a few moments, it is clear the shape it is taking. A Dragon.

Faced with untold danger from a giant dragon made out of the ruins of Hjubah, I weighed the odds of activating my armor. The pros outweigh the cons.

“Stealth mode: Engage.”

All of a sudden, I felt a pulling from the center of hmy chest. It was an extremely
uncomfortable feeling. To push away the nausea, I had to close my eyes. After a second,
the feeling leaves and as I reopen my eyes, I find all of the equipment missing. My things. All of it. Armor, hearthstones, everything. Boots! Claws!

I began to feel weak. They were just gone. How could they be gone. After I began checking my body to see if all of it was just invisible I realized I could bare skin. I could tell I was no longer weighed down by all the metal. My vision started to fade. One of the last things I heard was “Why aren’t you running?!” (See flashback 1)

When I gained control of myself again, I realized the dragon was staring right at me.
And nobody else was to be seen. To I gave everything bit of my energy I could to fleeing
from this giant beast. I leapt from the temple, landed on the aquaducts and took off as
fast as my feet and essence could take me. It was moving straight towards me, and I
dodged every one of its attacks until we heard a bell. The dragon disintegrated. And I was safe once again. But my things were gone. On my own, hidden in the aquaducts, I gave into a moment of weakness and shed a single tear for the loss of such important gifts. How irresponsible I was for doing such a thing. I knew that my armor did not agree with the flow of essence around Hjubah. Well, its no matter. I realized I have to get back to the group. So here I am taking a few moments to scribble my thoughts in my journal. It can hold my emotions for now. It’s not a good idea for me to bring them back to the group. I only hope I do not seem fragile when I return.

Hopefully someone will be able to find me some.. gear. I mean, we are headed to the Citadel of Points. The spirit did mention that was a location for meetings at one point.

Continued—

We arrived at the Citadel. It appears to be inhabited by spirits of the Guards of Hjubah. I moved further into the Citadel and found myself some weaponry and armor. Just something temporary while I-am runs a diagnostic on my armor. He may be able to tell me what happened to it. We are unsure what to do at this point. Oh no.. there’s another rumble.. Please don’t be the dragon.